The Human Shutter

Photographs, Stereoscopic Depth, and Moving Images

The book celebrates art and artists, philosophers, and scientists inspired by stereoscopic vision. The origin of photographic cinema is reframed based on a multitude of visual examples. Based on what happens after light appears on the retina, the idea of the stereoscope as a tool of critical inquiry is also explored. 76 b&w, 17 col.  illus.

This transdisciplinary study offers a fresh perspective on the intersections of photography, cinema, and visual perception, making it an essential addition to collections in art history, film studies, and photography.

Robert L. Bowen delves into the complex relationship between art, binocular vision, space, and time across both early and modern histories of photography. Central to Bowen’s analysis is the concept of "the human shutter," a metaphor for binocular rivalry, which he interprets as a form of proto-cinema—linking early photographic processes with the evolution of cinematic temporality.

The book provides a rich examination of the near-simultaneous emergence of still, moving, and stereoscopic depth media, while challenging the gradualist view of visual technologies. Through a preliminary taxonomy of rare stereoviews, Bowen draws connections between experimental film, painting, philosophy, and perception theory, opening new avenues for understanding the history of visual media.

Additionally, Bowen traces the fascinating journey of early pioneers like Antoine Claudet and Giorgio Sommer, whose work in motion and binocular vision plays a pivotal role in rethinking the origins of photographic cinema. Bowen bridges this history with contemporary innovations, including the dissolution of time in photography with the advent of generative AI.

The volume also highlights the work of modern and contemporary artists and filmmakers such as Marcel Duchamp, Robert Smithson, Lucy Raven, Ken Jacobs, and OpenEndedGroup, who have explored stereoscopic spaces and perceptions in innovative ways.

Key for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying art, art history, film, photography, and new media. It is also relevant to photographers, photo historians, experimental filmmakers, video artists, digital media artists, painters, and sculptors seeking fresh insights into their respective fields. Will resonate with readers interested in the history of 19th-century photography and the development of stereoscopic media.

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